monotonous
adjective
mo·not·o·nous
mə-ˈnä-tə-nəs 
-ˈnät-nəs
1
: uttered or sounded in one unvarying tone : marked by a sameness of pitch and intensity
a monotonous voice
2
: tediously uniform or unvarying
a monotonous job
monotonously
adverb
monotonousness
noun
Examples of monotonous in a Sentence
Altogether, millions of mostly obscure entries in the public record offer details of a forced labor system of monotonous enormity.
—
Douglas A. Blackmon, Slavery By Another Name, 2008
At times, the grayness of the place was consumed by its own monotonous noise, of bars clanging, of inmates being led through the corridors, of guards yelling out orders …
—Benjamin Weiser, New York Times Magazine, 6 Aug. 2000
The monotonous chant of the indoctrinated, ideologically armored from head to foot …
—Philip Roth, American Pastoral, 1997
The crickets stridulated their everlasting monotonous meaningful note.
—John Updike, The Witches of Eastwick, 1984
the lecturer's monotonous delivery threatened to put us to sleep
Douglas A. Blackmon, Slavery By Another Name, 2008
At times, the grayness of the place was consumed by its own monotonous noise, of bars clanging, of inmates being led through the corridors, of guards yelling out orders …
—Benjamin Weiser, New York Times Magazine, 6 Aug. 2000
The monotonous chant of the indoctrinated, ideologically armored from head to foot …
—Philip Roth, American Pastoral, 1997
The crickets stridulated their everlasting monotonous meaningful note.
—John Updike, The Witches of Eastwick, 1984
the lecturer's monotonous delivery threatened to put us to sleep
Recent Examples on the Web
The Heat’s monotonous march to a potential fourth consecutive play-in tournament has felt like drudgery at times.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 7 Mar. 2026
Yes, celebrations are ahead for one of the more monotonous roster moves a team can make, and the Cowboys are gearing up to make a large handful this week.
—Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Mar. 2026
The video indexes temporal compression—not historical eventfulness or developmental logic but monotonous repetition, endurance without transformation.
—Anel Rakhimzhanova, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2026
This includes a comic scene about proofreading the monotonous legal documents that clerks like Bartleby were paid pennies to copy, and a scene at the end where a jail cook rattles off all the former occupations of its now-nameless inmates.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for monotonous
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Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 7 Mar. 2026
Yes, celebrations are ahead for one of the more monotonous roster moves a team can make, and the Cowboys are gearing up to make a large handful this week.
—Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Mar. 2026
The video indexes temporal compression—not historical eventfulness or developmental logic but monotonous repetition, endurance without transformation.
—Anel Rakhimzhanova, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2026
This includes a comic scene about proofreading the monotonous legal documents that clerks like Bartleby were paid pennies to copy, and a scene at the end where a jail cook rattles off all the former occupations of its now-nameless inmates.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for monotonous
Cite this Entry
“Monotonous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monotonous. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
monotonous
adjective
mo·not·o·nous
mə-ˈnät-ᵊn-əs
-ˈnät-nəs
1
: uttered or sounded in one unchanging tone
2
: boring from being always the same
a monotonous task
monotonously
adverb
monotonousness
noun
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